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Join us for part two of our special three-part series on the Mariana Islands. This week, Dr. Tiara Na’puti interviews Franceska De Oro, a CHamoru/Filipina Native Rights Advocate, environmental activist, cultural practitioner, healer, artist, fashion designer, and yoga teacher who was born and raised in Guåhan. Tiara and Franceska reflect on the lasting trauma of colonization and the ongoing impacts of militarization in Guåhan, including how military urban development has reshaped the land and severed communities from their traditional practices, food systems, medicines, and sacred places. Franceska invites us to look deeply at how land signals its distress through things like visual pollution, loss of rare species, silent jungles, and the destruction of ancestral lands. This episode explores how climate change is a symptom of the US military industrial complex that prioritizes expansion, extraction, and control over the health of our communities and environment.
As the Circular Economy Education Coordinator for Guam Green Growth Circular Economy Maker Space & Innovation Hub, Franceska describes how the Maker Space is working toward sovereignty and environmental justice by removing “barriers of entry” and providing community access to tools, knowledge, and resources. These efforts support people in learning how to make, repair, grow, and build, as well as start their own businesses – fostering local economies, restoring traditional practices, and reducing reliance on imported goods.
This podcast is created by the Archipelagos of Indigenous-led Resurgence for Planetary Health research collective. You can find out more about our research on our website: https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/. We receive funding for this podcast from the Impact Chair in Transformative Governance for Planetary Health at the University of Victoria and from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We receive production support from Cited Media.
